It's tough to compete in the global marketplace when you're an American stuck in Paris during the biggest anti-U.S. protests in European history. No wonder Tyler Harding is tired He just wants to strike an agreement for his telecom company and get some sleep. But the intriguing Frenchwoman in charge of his deal intends to wake him up - in more ways than one. Meanwhile, in the company's Milwaukee branch, account exec Carly Emerald is juggling the demands of her defense-contract client and its government promoter; her increasingly obsessive lover; her cancer-stricken mother; and the office security monitor handing out duct tape to secure the windows. Tyler and Carly cannot seem to catch a break, but when they catch sight of each other during a videoconference set up by Carly to enlist Tyler's help with her awful London client, sparks fly ... until a their company's international accounting scandal threatens not only their fledgling friendship but their entire careers. Private Lines begins during the same events as Ian McEwan's "Saturday," but its point of view is uniquely - and poignantly - American.